


I'm on my way to believing

by merihn



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: 5 Times, Alex and Julie are platonic, Fluff, Kissing, Multi, OT4, because Alex is very gay, in case anyone was worried, lots and lots of kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26893417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merihn/pseuds/merihn
Summary: 4 times Luke loved his band and one time they loved him back.
Relationships: Alex/Julie Molina/Luke Patterson/Reggie, Alex/Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex/Luke Patterson/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Luke Patterson/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 50
Kudos: 394
Collections: oh YES





	I'm on my way to believing

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to [Noxnoctisanima](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noxnoctisanima/pseuds/Noxnoctisanima) for helping this be more than just a collection of disconnected scenes. 
> 
> Title from The Only Exception by Paramore.
> 
> Now with Yeoyou's brilliant fic linked. She found the light of the poly ship and wrote an amazing OT4 fic that I adore.

Reggie played a little flourish on his bass and Luke answered it on his guitar. Reggie looked at him and smiled, continuing the rhythm, and Luke followed him until Reggie let it fade. 

“That was good,” Luke said, pulling his guitar strap over his head and setting it neatly on the stand behind him. “We’ll have to write that down.” When he turned around Reggie was already scribbling it on a sheet of paper and Luke stepped up behind him, hooking his chin over Reggie’s shoulder. 

“We can clean it up a bit later,” Reggie murmured, jotting down a couple more lines. Luke let his hands rest on Reggie’s hips and watched him cross out a few notes and rewrite them. Reggie didn’t move when he was done, just twirled the pencil in his fingers. Suddenly, Luke couldn’t take it anymore and pulled back far enough to twist Reggie around by the hips, then pushed him against the amp he’d been using to write on. Reggie blinked, cheeks flushing with colour as Luke pressed against him, mouth opening on a gasp.

Luke searched his face for a moment, leaning in slowly, but Reggie didn’t say anything or flinch away, so Luke closed the space between them and kissed Reggie on the mouth. Reggie made a sound low in his throat and fisted his hands in Luke’s shirt, pulling him in hard against Reggie’s body. Luke broke the kiss for a moment to breathe, pressing his forehead to Reggie’s, then tilted his head to recapture his mouth, Reggie’s lips soft and open against his. 

Reggie’s hands had unwound from his shirt and were sliding over his back, fingers digging in when Luke slid his tongue past Reggie’s lips. Luke felt like he was losing himself in Reggie’s mouth, the soft heat, the not quite there taste of Reggie somehow sweet on Luke’s tongue.

When they parted they were both breathing hard. Reggie dropped his head onto Luke’s shoulder and held onto his shirt again, keeping him close. Luke rested his cheek on Reggie’s hair, letting his breathing calm, the rapid fire beat of his heart was nowhere near slowing.

***

Luke remembered the time he and Alex had kissed when they were alive, awkward and kind of sloppy. They’d never talked about it again, but Luke hadn’t stopped thinking about it. He wondered if it would be different now, now that they were dead. Or if it wouldn’t make a difference at all and they just didn’t fit together like that. 

No, Luke knew that wasn’t true. They’d just been nervous and didn’t even give themselves a chance to get it right. Alex was too anxious to stay and try again, too worried about the repercussions. 

Luke watched Alex now, flat on his back in the middle of the studio, drumming into the air. An idea came to him and he smirked, at least Alex wouldn’t be able to run away this time. Luke stood and walked over to where Alex lay, straddling Alex’s hips. Alex stared up at him, startled, and Luke drew in a breath before dropping to his knees over Alex.

“What are you doing?” Alex asked, his voice high like it always got when he was uncomfortable. Luke braced himself with a hand on the floor next to Alex’s head.

“I’m not letting you run away this time,” Luke said seriously, keeping his eyes locked on Alex’s. Alex laughed nervously, but his eyes flicked down to Luke’s mouth, and Luke licked his lips reflexively. Alex met his eyes again, his breath coming faster now, and Luke wanted to wipe the scared look off his face. “Ok?”

Alex swallowed visibly, then nodded. Luke smiled and leaned down, pausing inches away from Alex’s face to look at him for a moment. Alex stared back at him, eyes dark, lip caught between his teeth. 

“Ok,” he breathed.

Luke closed the distance, fitting his mouth to Alex’s gently, just a press of lips. For a moment they stayed like that, then Alex’s hands were in his hair and he was angling Luke’s head and opening his mouth to bite at Luke’s lower lip. His tongue soothed the tiny sting and Luke sighed into his mouth, letting himself relax into the kiss. He explored Alex’s mouth slowly, and Alex sighed under him, twisting his fingers in Luke’s hair and for a long time they just stayed like that.

*

“Hey guys, I found this really cool - oh.” Reggie stopped short as he caught sight of Luke and Alex tangled up on the floor. The look of devastation on Reggie’s face made Luke’s heart hurt, and he sat up quickly.

“Reggie-” he started, holding out a hand.

“Oh, I have to go and do… something,” Reggie interrupted, and disappeared. 

“Great,” Luke groaned. 

“What was that about?” Alex asked, sitting up too. 

“I might have kissed him the other day. And... I might have forgotten to actually talk to him about it.”

Alex frowned. “You kissed Reggie? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I wanted to talk to you together. I see now where I went wrong.” Luke slammed his hand on the ground. “We need to find him.”

“Yeah, I’d say so.” Alex looked at him curiously. Luke could tell he wanted to ask a lot of questions, but right now Reggie was more important. 

“Where do you think he went?” Luke couldn’t think of anywhere Reggie had been alone since they’d come back, other than the Molina house.

“The beach, maybe?” Alex suggested, looking uncertain.

“Let’s try that,” Luke said, relieved. They poofed out at the same time, and landed on the sand, near the shops that had replaced Reggie’s neighbourhood.

Luke looked around, trying to spot Reggie’s dark head. 

“Over there,” Alex said, tapping Luke’s arm. Luke looked over and Reggie was sitting near the entrance to the bike shop, tucked into a tight ball, head on his knees. Luke swallowed down the awful rush of feeling at the sight and ran over to Reggie.

“Reggie,” he said softly. Reggie looked up, eyes red. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just…”

“You know how Luke can be about communicating sometimes,” Alex interjected. He sat down next to Reggie, leaning back against the wall.

“I messed up,” Luke said.

“What - by kissing me, or kissing Alex without telling me?” It was strange to see Reggie so angry, the hectic colour on his cheeks, the dark look in his eyes.

“By not talking to you about what kissing you meant, and that I wanted to kiss Alex, too. I don’t know why I thought it would just work out perfectly without me saying anything. I know I can be dumb sometimes, but this is a bit much even for me.” Luke confessed, and dropped to his knees in front of Reggie. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, I guess I forgot it was all in my head and that I hadn’t actually said anything to either of you. And… I guess this isn’t the best time to bring this up, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I also want to kiss Julie.”

“Yeah, well that’s obvious,” Reggie huffed, but his eyes were softer now. Luke laughed lightly and Alex smiled. 

“Yeah, I guess it is. But you guys, you guys are so important to me. I love you guys. You know that. I should have been more careful, and I am really sorry I wasn’t.”

“So, what does that mean?” Reggie asked.

“I guess it means that I’m really greedy,” Luke laughed. “I mean, I like all of you, equally. And I really want to kiss you all, like a lot.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Of course you do. You’re nothing if not predictable.”

“Hey!” Luke protested.

Alex raised an eyebrow and Luke subsided. “Yeah, ok. It’s you guys’ fault, anyway.”

“What?” Reggie said sharply, colour rising again.

“Well, I wouldn’t be in this position if you weren’t so cute.”

Reggie laughed and reached out to punch Luke’s arm. Relief washed over Luke, if Reggie was willing to touch him again, he must be on his way to forgiving him for being an idiot. Luke reached out tentatively and put his hand on Reggie’s. Reggie didn’t pull away so Luke tucked his fingers into Reggie's hand. Alex put his arm around Reggie’s shoulders and Reggie leaned into him, smiling at Luke. 

“This is kind of ridiculous, you know,” Reggie said. “I mean we’re dead and now you decide that you want to kiss us?”

“I didn’t _just decide_ ,” Luke said hotly. Reggie laughed and squeezed his fingers. “But I guess it did kind of give me the courage to act on it.”

*

Alex threw a pen at his head, missing him by a mile, Luke growled and dove at him, wrestling him to the floor. Alex was laughing too hard to fight back and Luke pinned him down, leaning in to kiss him hard and quick, and Alex scrunched up his nose.

“So rude,” Luke murmured into Alex’s mouth, and Alex kissed him again before shoving him off. 

“Hey, guys,” Julie slammed the garage door behind her.

“Julie!” Luke exclaimed, grinning. “How was school?”

“Fine,” she said, not looking at them. 

“Everything ok?” Alex asked, frowning.

“Yeah, just tired.” She sat down heavily on the couch and dropped her head back. It was times like these that Luke wanted to touch her the most. He wanted to stroke her hair and hold her close, as if he could protect her from anything that could make her feel bad. 

“Anything we can do to help?” Alex moved to sit next to her. She rolled her head to look at him, smiling weakly.

“No, I’ll be fine. I might go and lie down in my room for a while.” She dragged herself up and left quickly.

“That was kind of weird,” Luke said when she’d gone.

“Yeah,” Alex said thoughtfully.

***

They didn’t technically sleep anymore, but they all liked to lay down on the pull out couch at night and zone out. Luke liked it because he could lie in the middle and touch either Alex or Reggie whenever he felt like it. Alex in particular liked to be touching while they drowzed, sometimes it was just a leg thrown over Luke’s, but he seemed to like making Luke the little spoon. Which - Luke wasn’t complaining, not at all. Like now, Alex’s arm was heavy on his waist, chin on top of Luke’s head, one leg wedged between Luke’s. 

Reggie was curled in toward Luke, one hand thrown out, almost brushing against Luke’s stomach. His breathing was slow and deep, his face relaxed and soft. Luke resisted the urge to trace the shape of his mouth with a finger, he didn’t want to disturb Reggie and shatter that calm. 

The room slowly lightened around him and Alex shifted behind him, his fingers brushing Luke’s stomach as he yawned and pressed his nose into Luke’s hair. Luke put his hand on top of Alex’s, lacing their fingers together. 

Alex groaned quietly. “Why does it feel like I haven’t had enough sleep when we don’t even need it anymore?”

“Probably psychological or something,” Luke murmured back. He shifted, turning under Alex’s arm to face him. Alex smiled sleepily at him and pulled him closer. Luke let his mouth wander over Alex’s face, feather-light over his cheeks, a harder press to the tip of his nose. Alex laughed quietly and let Luke continue pressing kisses onto his skin. Luke reached the corner of Alex’s mouth and then kissed him, reaching for Alex’s hip to steady himself as he delved into Alex’s mouth. He loved the sounds Alex made when they kissed, little half swallowed moans and sighs. 

Soon kissing devolved into just lying there, holding each other close, lost in their own thoughts. Reggie shifting and stretching broke the quiet, and he rolled over and pressed himself against Luke’s back. 

“What have you two been doing?” He asked, voice rough from lack of use. 

“Nothing much,” Alex replied, reaching over Luke and pulling Reggie into a kiss. Luke rubbed his thumb over Alex’s hip and enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by his two favourite people. Reggie’s hand dropped over his waist to rest gently on his stomach while he kissed Alex soundly.

When they parted, Luke wriggled around so he was on his back, and looked at Reggie. “And where’s my good morning kiss?” He asked petulantly. Reggie smiled fondly at him and kissed him.

***

“This is an interesting little relationship you and I have,” Luke said, with a wry smile.

“Relationship, huh?” Julie laughed. “Oh, well, it’s not like it matters since you’re dating Alex and Reggie.”

“Dating…?” Luke gaped.

“Oh, come on. I’ve seen how you look at both of them, and don’t think I didn’t see you kiss Alex in the garage the other day.” She raised her eyebrows. “I think it’s sweet, and I knew I should have listened to Flynn, anyway.”

“What did Flynn say?”

“Oh, you know, just how you’re made of air and that’s all you’ll ever be.” She pressed her lips together, twisting her fingers in the hem of her sweater.

“That might be true, but Julie…” Luke took a breath, trying to find the words. “I really care about you. You’re the best thing that’s happened to us, to me, in...” He paused and she could tell he was thinking of more than just the time since their death. “... a really long time.” He held his hands out to almost touch hers. “We’ve never put a name on what we are.” He looked really shy. 

Julie smiled. “Just… having fun?”

She could see the way he shook his head almost unconsciously. “No, but it’s not something that says we can’t have more.” He squirmed uncomfortably, his hands flexing towards hers. “I wish I could touch you. I’ve wanted to kiss you since we sang Finally Free,” he said in a rush. “I guess that’s when I realised it wasn’t just performing that gave us chemistry.”

She cut a look at him, biting her lip. “I might have sort of daydreamed a love song about you. I put it in my dream box.”

“You should show me. I know it’s strange, because of Alex and Reggie, but they know how I feel and you know they care about you too. And because we can’t touch, obviously, but I can’t imagine not having you if you’d be okay trying,” Luke said, letting his hand hover near her cheek. She turned her head slightly, until his fingers phased through her skin. She shivered slightly and closed her eyes.

***

It was amazing to be able to touch Julie now. Luke marvelled as his fingers stroked over the soft skin of her cheek, instead of phasing through like they had done only a few days earlier.

“None of this makes sense at all, but I don’t care,” Julie murmured, still hanging onto Alex and Reggie, as if she was a little afraid she wouldn’t be able to if she let them go for too long. She smiled shyly at Luke and turned her face into his hand.

“Who knew this whole thing could get crazier than it already was,” Alex said, one hand on Luke’s back and the other smoothing over Julie’s hair. 

“I should get back inside, Carlos and dad are waiting for me.” Julie didn’t move. “Also, I think Carlos knows about you guys.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s my fault,” Reggie admitted. “I just wanted your Tia to believe him. No one ever believed me about anything when I was a kid.”

“No, I mean, he knows about you guys specifically. He just said something really weird to me. But I think it’ll be ok. He just wanted to protect me, but I think he knows I don’t need protecting from you guys.”

“Ok, but before you go…” Luke began, stepping in closer to her. Alex and Reggie shifted to make room for him, and he slid his hand around to cradle her face, turning it up toward his. Luke suddenly realised he was nervous to kiss her, and he took a steadying breath before pressing his mouth to hers. She was so soft and warm and he lost himself in her for a moment. He rested his forehead against hers when they parted, and the curve of her smile was as warm as the glow that had helped them touch.

“Ok, now I really have to go. We’ll continue this later.” She pulled away, then turned and stood on her toes to kiss Alex’s cheek, then Reggie’s.

At the door she turned around to smile at them again, then slipped out.

***

“Come on, Luke, it’s time to watch a movie.” Julie grabbed his hand and pulled him into the garage, where they had hung up an old sheet, and set up a projector behind the pull out couch. Alex was already sitting in the middle of the couch, and grabbed his hand when Julie released it, tugging him down on top of him. Luke tried to avoid kneeing Alex in the crotch, and Alex grabbed his hips and maneuvered him, until Luke was settled on his lap, his knees bracketing Alex’s hips. He slid one hand around the back of Luke’s head and pulled him down to kiss him slowly, lingering. Luke melted into him, wrapping his arms around Alex’s shoulders.

“Ok, ok, it’s time to start the movie now,” Julie said cheekily, dropping onto the couch next to them. Luke moved to slide off Alex’s lap, but Alex stopped him, manhandling Luke around so he was sitting between Alex’s legs. Alex slung an arm around Julie’s shoulders and pulled her in close. Reggie flopped down on the other side of Alex and snuggled into Alex’s shoulder, resting his hand on Luke’s belly. Julie took his hand and laced their fingers together as the movie started on the screen. 

Luke couldn’t really focus on the movie, not with his band wrapped around him, just like he’d always wanted. Reggie’s soft breathing soothed him, in sync with the rise and fall of Alex’s chest against his back. Julie’s free hand slowly stroked his forearm, lulling him into a light doze. 

Alex laughed quietly, stirring him into wakefulness. He looked over at Julie, and she was watching him fondly. He smiled and squeezed her hand a little and she smiled back.

“The movie’s nearly over, you missed it,” she whispered. He shrugged, tugging her hand up so he could brush his lips over her knuckles. She pushed against his mouth with her hand and a smirk quirked her lips. He let go of her hand and slipped his fingers into her hair, tugging her in. She came easily, hovering with her nose brushing his for a moment, her eyes sparkling with mischief. She kissed him, fast, a little too hard and tried to pull back, but Luke’s fingers caught in her hair. She huffed a laugh and untangled her hair from his fingers and then leaned in again to kiss him slow and sweet. 

The end credits for the movie started with a loud song, and Julie pulled away to turn it off. The garage was dark without the light of the projector, but all that mattered was that Luke had his band and that they knew how much they meant to him. He hoped they could stay this way forever.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Will You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27030019) by [Yeoyou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yeoyou/pseuds/Yeoyou)




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